Dallas Stars

Sam Durham-3

Dallas Stars

Sam Durham-3

A Brief History of the Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars franchise started as the Minnesota North Stars in 1967. They were brought into the league when the NHL decided to expand from six to twelve teams. The team would go on to make the playoffs several times in the upcoming years but, they weren't selling tickets. It was simply too hard to compete with the college team of the Gophers. Ralph Strangis, a well known commentator, was even quoted as saying "If you were a kid playing hockey in Minnesota, you wanted to be in the state tournament (which was huge) and you wanted to be a Gopher. Nobody ever wanted to be a North Star." The time was 1978 and another failing hockey team in the NHL existed. This team was the Cleveland Barons who had just moved from Oakland because of financial troubles. After the league's consideration, the two teams did the unthinkable and merged rosters. Cleveland standouts were brought onto the Minnesota lineup. The team quickly started winning games again. Everything started looking up for the North Stars, however there was a change in management that seemed to have been the worst thing that could have happened to the North Stars.

Under New Management

George and Gordon Gunds had purchased the North Stars franchise during the merge. These two had previously owned the Oakland Seals, newly turned Cleveland Barons. The North Stars put up great numbers in the 1978-79 season. But in the 1986-87 season, the North Stars would start a four year losing streak. This ended up being part of the reason for the move to Dallas. The other part being that even after all these years, they couldn't compete with the Golden Gophers. The Gunds were unsatisfied without the success of the North Stars they were hoping for. Evidently, they sold the team back to the NHL and were rewarded with the San Jose Sharks franchise. The league searched for a new owner and found one in Norman Green. The Gunds were begging for a new arena, however Green was the one to see the request fulfilled. Green oversaw the move to Dallas and he shortened the name to the Stars. He was the owner until he sold the franchise to Tom Galliardi. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPgs2VV0Kzc

Mike Modano

Mike Modano has been the greatest player for the Dallas Stars franchise and even the greatest American player ever in the NHL. He broke nearly every offensive record in franchise history and to this day still holds most of them. He is arguably the third best in the NHL, coming short of legends like Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky.

Brett Hull

Brett Hull was a free agent acquisition. He was a scoring veteran added to the lineup to lead them to the Stanley Cup. This seemed to have worked, as a few seasons after he was signed, the Dallas Stars won the first Stanley Cup in franchise history. This presumably earned him bragging rights over his brother, Bobby Hull, as they were evenly matched in skill and were constantly competing.

Neal Broten

Neal Broten was a fan favorite and a better forward on the team than most. Although he didn't break any noticeable records that still stand, he was a crowd pleaser. Some even argued that was his sole purpose on the team, but I think that is unfathomable! Because, even though no records were broken, he scored goals. Dave Ganger even said "I would score two goals and the crowd would barely cheer. He (Neal Broten) would score one and the place would go bananas."

Mike Modano

Mike Modano has been the greatest player for the Dallas Stars franchise and even the greatest American player ever in the NHL. He broke nearly every offensive record in franchise history and to this day still holds most of them. He is arguably the third best in the NHL, coming short of legends like Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky.

Brett Hull

Brett Hull was a free agent acquisition. He was a scoring veteran added to the lineup to lead them to the Stanley Cup. This seemed to have worked, as a few seasons after he was signed, the Dallas Stars won the first Stanley Cup in franchise history. This presumably earned him bragging rights over his brother, Bobby Hull, as they were evenly matched in skill and were constantly competing.

Neal Broten

Neal Broten was a fan favorite and a better forward on the team than most. Although he didn't break any noticeable records that still stand, he was a crowd pleaser. Some even argued that was his sole purpose on the team, but I think that is unfathomable! Because, even though no records were broken, he scored goals. Dave Ganger even said "I would score two goals and the crowd would barely cheer. He (Neal Broten) would score one and the place would go bananas."